Home » Jazz Articles » Micah Thomas
Jazz Articles about Micah Thomas
Micah Thomas: Mountains
by Stefano Merighi
La prima traccia di Mountains, “Life," potrebbe suggerire un equivoco di fondo: un bel disco di jazz elegante, sgargiante nei colori, brillante nell'alternanza tra incedere orchestrale e voci individuali. Ma invece è solo l'incipit di un'opera ad alto tasso dialettico, che offre talmente tante soluzioni da frastornare. Micah Thomas (28 anni, ricordiamolo) ha già tutta la storia del jazz--e non solo--sotto le sue dita. E' un altro tra i numerosi pianisti e pianiste in grado di sintetizzare ogni ...
Continue ReadingNoah Halpern: The Embrace Vol. 1
by Paul Rauch
Since arriving in New York to study at Juilliard in 2014, trumpeter Noah Halpern has steadily shouldered his way into the vibrant city club scene, providing the truest proving ground for him in ways that higher education could never present. His musical upbringing in Seattle was two-fold as well, being raised in the nationally acclaimed high school program at Roosevelt High School, while diving into the inspired local scene there that bears a great trumpet lineage beginning with Quincy Jones ...
Continue ReadingMicah Thomas: Mountains
by Mike Jurkovic
It can never not be exciting and enthralling to listen to a young artist come into his or her own as pianist/composer Micah Thomas does on the very live, very rollicking, very palpable Mountains. Thomas' fourth disc as captain of the ship chronicles four hot sets in June of 2023 commissioned by The Jazz Gallery Residency Fellowship at New York's Jazz Gallery. The pianist and company get right down to it as Thomas delves headlong into ...
Continue ReadingMicah Thomas: Reveal
by Mike Jurkovic
A drop mic, double plus good treatise by three very ballsy players--pianist Micah Thomas, bassist Dean Torrey, and drummer Kayvon Gordon--Reveal wastes no time stating its case, taking centerstage, and holding that promised land's glories tight. Recorded in one seven-hour session, Thomas's second far-flung outing as a Blue Note leader and his third overall (the self-produced and eloquent Tide, 2019) deceptively chases the history of the piano trio then surpasses it altogether on the opening dynamo “Little Doctor (Take 2)." ...
Continue ReadingMicah Thomas: Reveal
by Angelo Leonardi
«Micah Thomas ha uno stile unico --ha detto Fred Hersch-e tutti gli strumenti necessari per dare un contributo importante al mondo del pianoforte jazz». Per Aaron Parks «è uno dei musicisti più eccitanti della sua generazione». Non sono parole di circostanza. Dopo il debutto a suo nome con l'album Tide, inciso nel 2020 a soli 22 anni e il Piano Solo del 2022 anche la stampa specializzata ha espresso superlativi giudizi sul giovane pianista di Columbus già membro stabile ...
Continue ReadingZoh Amba: Bhakti
by Mark Corroto
It may be an overused metaphor, but saxophonist Zoh Amba does indeed stand on the shoulders of giants. Proof of that phrase is Bhakti, a tour de force of passionate free jazz. The twenty—something artist draws on traditions born of the 1960s from artists such as Albert Ayler, Pharoah Sanders, Archie Shepp, and Peter Brötzmann. Her music, like that of her mentor David Murray's early career explorations, sustains the customs of the 1960's firebrands for a new generation.
Continue ReadingBilly Drummond and Freedom of Ideas: Valse Sinistre
by Jack Bowers
As one of the world's foremost jazz drummers, Billy Drummond manages to keep busy--so much so that Valse Sinistre, recorded in November 2021, is his first album as leader in more than twenty-five years, following the critically acclaimed Dubai from 1996. This time around, Drummond is at the helm of his Freedom of Ideas quartet: Micah Thomas on piano; Dezron Douglas on bass; and Dayna Stephens on saxophones. Even though he is the nominal leader, Drummond doesn't ...
Continue Reading
